Work From Anywhere: Week 6; Last week of work

Early morning Paso Robles view from my RV desk

My last week of work is complete! Well, for the short term. If you read my previous post, you know that I’m switching companies mid-trip and last Friday was my last day with my previous employer. I wrapped things up from Paso Robles, CA. In the mean time, I’ve built in two weeks (before I start the new gig) to explore Lake Powell (Arizona/Utah) and the Grand Canyon. In this weeks post, I’m going to chat through the logistics of making “the switch” while on the road, as well as reflect on a few interactions I’ve had that have reinforced the WFA lifestyle.

Gloria and I taking a selfie in front of Lake Powell

I think most job departures are bittersweet. We leave an environment that is familiar, with people we have created personal relationships with, for a completely foreign situation and new people. At the same time, it is exciting because we are starting something new and (hopefully) aligned with our goals. I believe that the important part is that we acknowledge the personal connections and set the foundation to maintain them after we’ve left a company. That is exactly where I spent the majority of my time last week. I did my best to connect virtually with as many individuals as possible, exchange contact information (not difficult in today’s world with LinkedIn), and make sure that each person knew that I cared about our relationship. With that being said, lets be real, I may never talk to some of them ever again. Others however, will be lifelong colleagues, friends, or both.

Our “NOE” mugs outside in Paso Robles during my last week of work (Click the picture to purchase a mug!)

The other (and much more technical) side of this transition is equipment. Someday in the future, us “WFAers” will operate from our own device (phone, laptop, tablet etc). But in the current world, we generally need to do so via a company device. So Friday afternoon, I packed up my laptop, keyboard, mouse and any relevant cords and headed over to a UPS store, so I could send it all back. I must say that UPS made this extremely easy. They packed everything up, in a specialty laptop box and took payment from my company over the phone. It was a seamless process. My new company probably has the larger challenge, as I have provided them with my location for shipment, based on when they send out the equipment. Fingers crossed that it makes it to me AND is delivered on time.

Work transition aside, as I close this chapter in my corporate career from the road, I have to reflect briefly on the past six weeks. Specifically a couple interactions that have reinforced the WFA lifestyle.

Beautiful day in Palm Desert

One afternoon in Palm Desert, CA, I was doing the final walk-around on our RV, so we could head to San Diego. It was 75 degrees and sunny, with a small breeze and the palms were swaying a bit overhead. It was a beautiful March day for this New Englander. I caught the eye of the group staying next to us and a man said “Hey there, travel day?”. I told them yes and where we were headed and they said “Oh are you on vacation?” (my license plate is from New Hampshire). Of course I explained our situation and how we were managing to be where we were (they exclaimed “we need to find jobs like that!”). It was then that I realized how truly unorthodox our trip was (at least to a large part of the world). We had officially combined “vacation” with “work”. We were one-in-the-same, truly working from anywhere. I know this isn’t a new concept. There are US citizens working from Bali as we speak (or they were before the pandemic). But to actually DO it and be successful at it…created a pretty proud moment.

Family picnic next to Lake Powell

Another moment that hit me was more recent. We’re currently camping on Lake Powell and yesterday we walked down by the water to have a picnic. The remoteness and scenery of Lake Powell is jaw-dropping. It is a man made reservoir, created via the Glen Canyon Dam and sits on the Colorado River. The mountains, buttes and rock formations that protrude from the water are incredible. Selima and Kailah had walked down the long, red sand beach to the water and I stayed with Gloria up on the bank. A man walked down beside us, headed for the water. I would say he was between 70 and 75. He had his palm sized digital camera at the ready and was snapping a few photos at the panorama that lay out before him. Watching him, I couldn’t help but imagine what he was thinking. I thought it was either “man I’m glad I worked hard enough to be able to see this”, or “man, why did I wait so long to come see this”. Either way, it absolutely reinforced what we’re doing. Technology has allowed us to change the way we work and in many cases, the pandemic forced the use of that technology. We’re able to use it to see Lake Powell 40 years before our friend on the beach.

Cheers,

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 4-5 GB / work day (I spent a lot of time chatting via video while I was preparing to leave my company).

Click here for our WFA Gear Page

Work From Anywhere blog: week 5; Interviewing and switching jobs on the road?!2

As the remote work gods would have it, I am completely switching jobs on this trip. Not just positions, but companies and industries. The whole change, start to finish, will have happened by the time we get home. From interview, offer, drug screening, equipment, you name it...all on the road.

Despite being in sunny Southern California, the past few weeks have been stressful. It all started when I got a call from a recruiter while we were in Tucson, asking me to interview. While I wasn’t actively looking for a new job, I’m always open to opportunities, so I said yes.

The interview would take place remotely, after we traveled another 390 miles and 7 hours to the middle of the desert, in Twentynine Palms California. I had my worries about connectivity, the RV resort, weather and of course the consistent fear of the unknown - and little did I know that almost all of these variables would provide obstacles.

When we arrived in Twentynine Palms, I was hopeful for a nice outdoor area the ladies could use, so I could have the RV to myself for the video call. Unfortunately, it was a dirt driveway (we would actually switch resorts two days later). The one beacon of light that I noticed immediately was the cell internet speed. I was registering download speeds of 180 mbps, which is like four times my home internet.

The real challenge came on the interview day. A wind storm had picked up overnight sporting 35 mph winds. Since the RV is over 12’ tall, it began to act more like a metal sail than a vehicle. This caused two problems. The first was that Kailah and the girls had to venture out into those winds, so that there wasn’t sound in the background. The second issue was that the RV was rocking back and forth, like a cruise ship on rough seas. While it was probably unnoticeable to the people I was meeting with, I felt like I was bobbing and weaving during the entire call.

Obviously this story has a happy ending, but I couldn’t believe the factors that stacked up against us. It was almost comical. I don’t know why I care so much about situations like these. I think I just pressure myself to put my best foot forward and started to feel like the universe was working against me. Long story short, the interview went well. I got an offer and it seemed like the right fit from my perspective, so I committed. It won’t change our upcoming plans at all, as the new company will allow me to be remote for another couple months.

What an incredible whirlwind of events (quite literally). It’s always stressful to switch jobs. From the interview process, to telling your current colleagues you are leaving, to “not knowing” how the new opportunity will work out - it just weighs on you. I have some time off coming up before I start the new position, so I’m excited to spend some time focusing on experiencing the Grand Canyon and working on our Nowhere On Earth brand with Kailah. I’ll check back in after my final week of work.

Cheers,

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 5-6 GB / work day (tough week with video calls)

Click here for our WFA Gear Page

Work From Anywhere Blog: Week 4, coast-to-coast and WFA month in reflection!

We made it across the United States! What a journey it has been – it took us 24 total days, with three remote work weeks, to get here and put down our stakes in Oceanside, San Diego (where I’m currently writing this). I think most people, like us, have dreamed of making this voyage and now we can proudly say we’ve accomplished it. We fully realize that we are fortunate to have this opportunity, especially during times like these, and we are extremely grateful for that.

Reflecting back on this first month of living and working from an RV, I must say that it was more stressful than difficult. I think there is a direct relationship between these two however, as the stress produced a plan that made working easy. I was so worried about the trip having an impact on my job, that I left almost no chance for issues, or problems that couldn’t be solved. I’ve hinted at this plan over my previous posts, talking about how I’ve adjusted to this lifestyle, but this week I want to list them out specifically, so that others can benefit from what has made me successful. I recognize that there are other ways to approach this (and probably cheaper), but my goal was to ensure zero interruptions in my ability to work. I’ll link to all of the products I use at the end of this article.

So here goes…

Consult others: There isn’t much to say here besides the fact that I asked people who have done this before, how they did it and what they used to be successful.

Service and connection: This research was the most important thing that I did when Kailah and I were planning the trip. We would find an RV site we wanted to book, then use the address to enter into Verizon’s coverage map tool. If it was covered by at least 4G LTE (5G is a plus), we would then make the same check over on the Outly website for another resource. By doing this, we were able to make the determination of whether or not we could book that site, so that I would have adequate connectivity.

Cell booster: While I haven’t used it yet, I also took the liberty of purchasing and installing a cell booster from WeBoost. So far, this has been mostly used for peace of mind, as the aforementioned research hasn’t failed us (Remember my goal was to leave no opportunity for failure - this was just an added level of insurance).

My “office”: This was actually my first order of business because I needed to make sure I had a relatively low traffic, low volume area to take calls, focus, etc.. Since we own a class A motorhome, I purchased an 8’ curtain rod and floor-to-ceiling, triple ply curtains (manufactured by Moonbeam) to “seal” off the cockpit of the RV. While this isn’t a tremendous sound barrier, it provides less distractions and a barrier for a very curious three year old. Beyond that, we have a fold out desk that is built into the passenger side of the RV (with 110/120 volt outlets) that I use to support my 27” monitor, laptop, keyboard and mouse. The chair itself is meant to be very comfortable for long rides, so it works really well as an office chair. Is this whole setup “ergonomically” correct? Probably not, but at least I’m comfortable. In addition, I also purchased and brought a portable desk and portable chair (stored under our bed) for a secondary setup location in the back bedroom of the RV. This was probably unnecessary, but I wanted to give myself the flexibility, in case the cockpit office didn’t work out.

My technical gear: Beyond the laptop, keyboard and mouse provided by the company I work for, I also added some additional gear to make working easier. The 27” monitor I use is actually a standard desk monitor from HP , but I also have a Lepow portable monitor, so that I can work in other areas of the RV, if I want (links below). For calls, I use the Bose Q35 noise cancelling headphones. While a bit pricey, these things are incredible and I recommend everyone gets a pair (RV, airplane, home office - you name it). They reduce the extra noise around me for both me AND the listeners on the other end. The only downfall is that they easily pick up voices, which can be a negative when Selima yells from the back of the RV.

Usage calculations: While a quality connection is required, Verizon doesn’t just let you use unlimited data. Even though it says it does. After a certain threshold it throttles (or significantly slows down) your connection. This could be a major issue. So before leaving home I spent days and even weeks tracking how many GB I was using. I tested everything - heavy meeting days, meetings with a large number of participants, pulling large amounts of data - you name it. By doing this, I could order the number of hot spots and appropriate “unlimited” data usage plans from Verizon to fit my needs. (You can check your usage on a PC by typing “data usage” into the windows search bar.).

Backup funds: This one might get overlooked, but it shouldn’t be. We ensured that we had the money set aside to cover a house rental for any week where I didn’t have a quality connection. It essentially takes away any remaining risk I might have because I would have wifi at the rental. (We haven’t had to do this yet).

I hope this gives a glimpse into the planning and preparation that went into making this trip a success. I know from the outside it can sometimes look easy, or that I '“just lucked out”, but that is so far from the truth. We put in countless hours of effort and anxiety and it turned into a pretty damn good result.

Cheers,

Kyle

Office and technical gear links:

HP Monitor

Lepow Monitor

WeBoost Signal Booster

Bose Q35 Headphones

Moonbeam Noise Dampening Curtains

Connection Gear:

30 GB usage Verizon Jetpack MIFI 8800L

30 GB usage 5G MIFI M2100

30 GB usage utilizing my iPhone as a hotspot on the “Get More Unlimited” plan

Current usage trend: 4-5 GB / work day

Click here for our WFA Gear Page